Collider
by Flitty
Summary: Steven suddenly finds himself in the past with no explanation. With knowledge and abilities that he shouldn't have, can he steer the ship alone?
1. Gem Glow

**Steven Universe does not belong to me.**

* * *

He'd been asleep, dreaming of something with Connie.

That was a new development; with the recent dealing with their thoughts as Stevonnie, Steven and Connie had found themselves connected somehow.

Neither of them could describe it fully. Sometimes one felt the other's injuries, sometimes it was like their fused self was whispering in their ears, and sometimes they dreamed together, no matter how far apart they were.

Then he wasn't asleep. He was wide awake, tripping down a flight of stairs. It was a moment's work to think of Connie and he was stuck on the ceiling, unharmed. He let the floating power fade away and dropped to the floor, very glad that the other Gems hadn't seen his moment of indignity.

Something was off.

It wasn't anything obvious. Well, to Steven it was. Many of the various oddities around his bedroom and kitchen had been fixed. Most notable were the patches of slightly differently patterned wood where Peetly's acid had burned through the floor, and the gauges from the first time he summoned his shield.

Wonderingly, Steven leapt up the stairs and took in his room. He'd gotten rid of those posters ages ago, and... TV number six was back.

"Six! Oh how I've missed you," Steven cried, hugging the box and chuckling when his hair stood on end. "Never again will I put a shield through your side." He lovingly rubbed his thumb over a scratchy part of the TV's edge, before turning back towards the posters.

Ninja Squad? He hadn't seen those particular shades of red and orange since he took that poster down, right before...

"Future Vision," Steven breathed. "Did Garnet kiss me recently? Wait, it'd have to be in the past when Garnet kissed me, but I guess I'm in the past now, and as much as I'm a nice person, I can't remember every kiss, so I guess I don't know anyway." But if it was future vision, why wasn't Garnet around?

In fact, nobody was around. It was as quiet as it had ever been in the temple room. Shrugging, he went to get a snack from the fridge.

The sight that greeted him finally jogged his memory. It was before he'd first met Connie, before he'd even gotten his powers, but it wasn't by more than a few hours.

For a moment, he hesitated. If he lived out his life exactly the same way as before, he'd just get sent back in time again, like in all those movies he'd watched. But if he changed anything, he knew that everything else would change, and possibly go worse than last time. And if he did change anything, he might not be able to go back again, especially since he didn't even know how he'd gotten back.

Garnet would know what to do. She always did. But then, that wasn't quite true, was it? As much as he loved all of his moms, none of them were infallible.

Briefly, Steven wondered why he was thinking in such big words, but then he chalked it up to Stevonnie. Connie had always used much bigger words than him, and she'd had to explain what each one meant as they went along.

His heart plummeted. He was back in time. Connie wasn't.

In fact, nobody else was, either. Garnet was still almost mute, and Amethyst and Pearl weren't getting along at all at this point, and they were all different colors, and Garnet still had square shoulder poofs... And Lapis and Peridot weren't around either!

He'd never see his friends again. Well, he would, but they'd be different. They'd have to go through all the growth that he'd seen, all the tiny things that he'd be terrified to change. Connie was still the bookworm who couldn't dance-

They'd never be Stevonnie again. Not the same Stevonnie.

Steven sniffed, shut the fridge and climbed the stairs one at a time. Then he collapsed onto his bed. He didn't feel as awake as he had before.

* * *

The Centipeetle attack shouldn't have been unexpected, Steven realised, but thinking was hard when you were being swarmed by baby bugs.

He didn't dare summon his shield yet; as far as the Gems knew, he still had no idea if he could do it, and even if they weren't here, he couldn't take the chance that they'd warp here while he was holding it.

As it turned out though, Steven had a mean right hook. And a mean left jab.

Pretty much all of his punches were mean, actually. His kicks too. The mother Centipeetle was soon the only one left, and it scurried off once it realised how strong he was.

Maybe if he just bubbled the mother himself before the others came back, he could get her to her crew and they'd all be happy. But that would change the future, and the Gems wouldn't realise that he was capable...

Eventually though, Steven's kindheartedness won out as he knew it would. He couldn't just let the Centipeetle suffer when he could help her, and with that in mind he climbed the temple in the general direction that she'd gone.

* * *

It occured to Steven that having his new powers had changed the future already, like what Garnet said about how she couldn't control the future because she couldn't do exactly the movements that she'd need to for everything to go perfectly; her voice faultered, or she tripped, or she twitched when she told a lie, and everything changed.

Steven floating had changed everything from the moment he'd woken up.

Still, he also knew that it wouldn't change instantly. The Gems would probably still grow in similar ways for the first few months, but the fact that Steven would grow differently would affect them too eventually. He'd thought about how knowing the future would affect things a lot because of Garnet.

His Garnet.

He tried not to think about that, at least for now. He'd need to eventually, but right now he needed to get back. He stepped onto the warp pad and the edges shone white, surrounding him.

When the glow faded, he found himself staring at three Gems, who were staring back.

 _Smile._

He did. "Hey guys! I figured out how to use this!" He pointed down to the warp pad, sweating slightly.

Garnet looked as impassive as her pre-poofed self always did. Amethyst looked dumbfounded, and Pearl looked mildly insane, paused on one leg with Steven's bed held over her head.

He got what he expected from two of the three; Garnet didn't move a muscle, and Pearl immediately began berating him half-hysterically.

Amethyst, instead of butting heads with her opposite or bursting into laughter, sank to the ground and sighed quietly, still looking vaguely confused.

"...Where did you even go, anyway, Steven? I-I wonmt be angry, but I need to know if you've damaged anything or angered anyone, or any number of horrific things you could have done!"

"Maybe phrase that a little better?" Amethyst suggested half-heartedly. "It kinda sounds like you think Ste-man's helpless..."

"O-Of course I don't Amethyst, it's just that that warp pad grants access to so many dangerous places that I doubt even we could-"

"Steven," Garnet interrupted forcefully, and her visor might have been invisible for all it masked her urgency, "where did the warp pad take you?"

"Um, I wasn't really looking around," he lied. "I was just surprised that it worked-" He paused, remembering that he'd been gone for a while. "And then I tried to come back, but it took me a while to do it again."

The urgency was gone, and Garnet nodded. "Good work warping, but don't do it again without us."

Steven nodded and sighed. Crisis averted. For now.

* * *

 **I'm trying to make the characters feel like the canon ones, but it's difficult since they've changed so much. I'm also having trouble making it feel right, since SU tends to massively deconstruct all kinds of tropes, and I feel like I need to do the same.**

 **And the reason Steven suddenly has so many conclusions regarding time travel and future knowledge is because Garnet's future vision and his Steven and the Stevens experience made him sit down and really think about all the consequences beforehand.**

 **I doubt I'll be doing every episode (for example, Cat Fingers has no reason to happen), but I'll resolve all the really important stuff when it comes to that point.**

 **Next time, Laser Light Cannon. Or not. Probably though.**


	2. Laser Light Cannon

**Still don't own.**

* * *

Steven hadn't really understood how far everyone had come until now, but looking back - or forwards - on his Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl, it was difficult to compare them to the Gems of one-and-a-half years ago.

"Y'know, it's really odd," Amethyst cut him out of his thoughts. Steven turned to her in question, absently chucking some fry bits into his mouth. "You just seem... I don't know, different?"

"Different from what?" he asked warily. Amethyst shrugged, grabbing her own handful of bits.

"Different from a few days ago. I mean, you even look a little different! Have you been working out, or-" she froze suddenly, face fixed in a grin that grew steadily more forced.

Steven looked on uneasily. "What? What is it?"

"You weren't poofed, were you?"

"W-what?"

"Y'know, poofed! Like, you get stabbed or crushed, and your body can't handle it anymore, so you go back into your gem and make a knew one?" She grinned. "That usually happens to me, but I can make a body in no time at all, so it's fine!"

"Um, no I wasn't poofed," Steven denied, shaking his head. "I'm half human. Could I even do that?"

Amethyst looked thoughtful for a second, then shook her own head. "Dunno, dude. You probably shouldn't try it though. Just a thought."

She walked off, heads behind her head, and Steven trailed behind, brow creased.

He'd been the one to coin 'poofing', hadn't he?

* * *

"Garnet! Pearl!"

"We saw," Pearl told Amethyst, annoyed. " _Some_ of us are trying to protect humanity! Where were you?"

Amethyst dropped Steven. "Eating fry-bits," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, they're really good!" Steven held out the packet of bits, which he'd managed to hold onto this time. "You should try them!"

Amethyst snickered as Pearl gave an involuntary shudder, but Garnet interrupted them. "No time for that right now, Steven, we need to destroy the red eye."

"Okay, but can I do something?"

There was a slight pause, and like always, Steven had to wonder if that was because of Garnet's future vision saying she needed to pause for the best outcome. "The only thing that's ever destroyed a red eye is the laser light cannon that belonged to Rose Quartz."

"W-well if it belonged to my mom, wouldn't my dad know where it is?"

He could tell that Garnet wasn't actually considering that, and it really hurt that even with future vision, Garnet didn't take him seriously.

Instead of Garnet though, Pearl answered him. "Steven, your father is... nice, but I doubt that Rose would entrust a weapon of such destructive power to... someone like him."

"Yeah, your dad's kind of a mess," Amethyst translated, earning a reprimand from Pearl. "What? I'm just saying! Even if she did give it to him, he probably lost it, or broke it, or dropped it in the ocean by now."

"True," Garnet muttered. Even though she could probably see that he hadn't. Steven really needed to learn how much she could see.

"Aw, c'mon guys! Where else could it be? It can't hurt to look, right?"

"We can handle this, Steven," Garnet lied through her teeth. Steven wondered if the others could tell, because they both shifted nervously at that declaration.

Then there was the sound of Amethyst's scream, and a dull tunk as her face collided with the eye.

Steven winced in empathy, rubbing his nose at the phantom pain. "I'm just gonna go now," he told Pearl.

"Okay, have fun," she said distractedly, and Garnet didn't reply, still posed in a comical three-point landing.

* * *

"Who's there? I have a waffle iron!"

Steven laughed from on top of the van's roof as his dad blinked slowly. He wasn't a morning person.

"...Steven?" He asked once he could finally see through the sleep. "What're you doing up so late? I almost waffled your face!"

"Well, there may or may not be a gigantic death eyeball-" he faultered at the image of Eyeball that his mind supplied, "-about to crash into Beach City and crush us all, so I need to know if you have mom's laser light cannon so we can destroy it!"

"Woah woah woah, hold on there Schtu-ball! Is this a magical thing? The Gems told me not to get involved in that stuff if I valued my life and hair. Come to think of it, I'm not sure if they were threatening me or not..."

"Dad," Steven interrupted his rambling, "I really need the laser light cannon, or you might not have a life or hair to value! And neither will the rest of Beach City!"

Greg hummed. "Well, when you put it like that, I do know one place it could be. Come on, get in the van!"

* * *

After a minute of searching, Steven finally found what he was looking for: the gigantic pink cannon that belonged to his mother. For a second, he hesitated.

"Here comes a thought," he whispered to himself. How had his mother shattered Pink Diamond, anyway? Bismuth had said that her sword would never shatter a gem, and Steven didn't know any way that his shield could, either. Besides, Pink Diamond was supposed to be one of the most powerful gems in existence...

Did Rose use the cannon?

"Dad, I found it! Get the van!"

He couldn't waste any time right now. Last time, it had almost been too late, and while he'd found the cannon quicker this time, he didn't want to risk it.

Within minutes, they were dragging the cannon towards the beach.

* * *

"AAAARRRRGGHHH!"

Tunk.

A few quiet seconds passed before Amethyst was washed up onto the shore. "Throw me again, I think I'm cracking it!"

"Ahem." Everyone turned to Steven, who was leaning casually on the cannon. "Anyone order a giant destructo-beam?"

Amethyst gasped. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Rose's cannon," Pearl breathed, "Greg really had it!"

"Plausible," Garnet supplied, turning away, "But we need to activate it."

"Oh yeah," Steven remembered. It was difficult to forget the password, but he couldn't just say it outright, right? "Um, activate! Start! Begin?"

"Crystal Gems," was Garnet's contribution. She waited a moment, during which absolutely nothing happened. "I give up."

"U-uh, laser light!"

"Rose Quartz?"

"Rebellion!"

"Sea Spire!"

Amethyst and Pearl's impromptu debate went on for another few seconds before Steven turned to his dad. He really should have prepared the conversation beforehand. "S-sorry dad, I think you might lose your hair after all," he said, stalling for an opportunity.

"It's fine kiddo," Greg smiled, clapping him on the back. "You found this cannon all by yourself, and it's not your fault if we can't get it to fire. If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hot dogs!"

Steven opened his mouth to respond, but as he registered what his dad had said, he turned to the now glowing cannon. "Dad, I think that was it!"

"Really?"

In lieu of an answer, Steven ran to the cannon and the barrel fell onto his back, aiming directly at the eye. The rest of the Gems and his dad were there in a moment, and it was only when they pulled that Steven realised how much the weight was hurting his back.

"Brace yourselves!" Garnet cried, and they did.

The rose-shaped beam of light abruptly brought Steven back to his thought, even as it blasted the red eye to smithereens.

Had the cannon shattered Pink Diamond?

In the end it didn't matter.

* * *

 **There's chapter/episode 2 done, and I have to say that it was very difficult to write it without it seeming exactly like the original episode.**

 **It's also become my headcanon that Rose did use the cannon to shatter Pink Diamond, which I only thought of while I was writing this chapter. It does make sense, because as powerful as Rose was, she was also a Quartz up against a no doubt heavily guarded and extremely powerful Diamond, and her sword wasn't one that could shatter gems according to its creator, Bismuth.**

 **Next time, episode 3. Cheeseburger Backpack! Except Steven may have forgotten something this time, and maybe even remembered something else...**


	3. Cheeseburger Backpack

**Do I need to say that I don't own Steven Universe for every chapter? That seems redundant and obvious.**

* * *

 _Steven! Connie!_ _It's really important! I know it seems so wrong right now, but-_

 _Steven?_

 _Connie?_

 _Why can't I-_

* * *

Steven woke up breathing heavily, hand clutched over his heart. He felt light-headed, like he did when he'd had bad dreams, but usually he was able to remember what had happened in them.

This time, there was just a void. Like something was filling his head, but it was just pitch darkness, utter silence. Nothing worth remembering.

Ever since he'd first summoned his shield, he'd always dreamed, be it good, bad or ugly. It just felt wrong that he didn't tonight.

Well, stranger things had happened. Like that one time when he got sent into the past.

Sigh.

Repeating that last thought out loud, Steven hopped off his bed and summoned his shield, throwing it so that it grabbed his clean clothes off the chest of drawers and returned them to his hand. The Gems wouldn't see him well enough from here that they'd notice if they warped in, and he needed the practice. He'd become pretty good at manipulating the shield's flight path, but he still needed to be able to control it with Connie's weight on top.

Now dressed, Steven floated down from the raised part of his bedroom and landed on the door handle, successfully opening the door without touching the floor. Then he hooked his foot around the handle and dragged himself through, and the door shut behind him. Challenge complete.

Just as he was about to leave for good, a blinding light behind him made him stop. "The others are back," he whispered excitedly. Really, it was like he was just learning to be a gem again, all new and exciting even though it wasn't. There weren't even any weird and scary arcs to worry about anymore, it was just one short adventure after the other.

The whole time travel thing didn't count, of course.

Steven opened the door again and was promptly soaked to the skin.

"Amethyst, where did you even get that?" Pearl asked in disdain, but Amethyst chucked the super soaker over her shoulder without answering and lunged for the gigantic egg in Garnet's arms.

"Won't fit," Garnet said blandly, picking at one of the feathers in her hair. Naturally, Amethyst ignored her. There was a crack when she closed the fridge on the egg, and Pearl winced.

"We fought a giant bird," she said by way of explanation. "And someone couldn't leave well enough alone and just had to get in the nest." She looked at Amethyst pointedly, and groaned when the younger gem just smirked at her.

"Woah, what's that?" Steven asked, even though he knew exactly what it was.

Pearl looked startled for a second before she took note of the object in her hand. "Oh! This is the Moon Goddess Statue. We need to place this on the top of the Lunar Sea Spire before midnight, or the whole spire will collapse into the sea!"

"We got it from the bird," Garnet said.

"Oh Steven, you should have seen the spire in its prime! It was an oasis, a safe place for gems to stay on earth! It's abandoned now," Pearl looked distant for a second, but shook herself, "But we can still save what's left of it, and maybe restore it to its former glory!"

"Just don't get your hopes up," the leader reminded her, and she sighed.

"I know, we have no way to know how badly damaged the spire is before we get there. Really, it's probably just wishful thinking, but I can think wishfully if I so choose!"

"Can I come?"

Amethyst chuckled. "Sure thing, Ste-man! You can hold the statue in, like, a backpack or something!"

Steven froze. That was what he'd been forgetting! Well, he could make do with a regular backpack. It didn't have to be a cheeseburger one, right? "W-wait, right here!" he yelled, and climbed the stairs with a tiny floaty boost. "It has to be here somewhere... Aha!"

He jumped back down a few minutes later with a bright blue backpack in his arms, knowing that Pearl would be done berating Amethyst for letting him come on such a dangerous mission. Maybe they'd even discussed the test that they would give him.

This time, though, he would not fail. Mr Queasy was still safe on his bed, and the moment he got the Moon Goddess Statue it was going in the pack. He'd packed rope, the raft, and a first aid kit, and the bagels were in a watertight box now, just in case. Soggy bagels were not tasty, he knew from first-hand experience. Even if they were sea-salted.

Especially if they were sea-salted.

* * *

Steven amused himself while warping by seeing how many times he could frontflip before they landed. His count was thirty seven, but he got too dizzy near the end to know for certain.

"Thirty eight," Garnet corrected helpfully while Amethyst and Pearl fought again in the background. Steven grinned; while Pearl would try to get him to behave and Amethyst would try to wind him up, Garnet was always willing to help him, no matter his agenda.

"Thanks Garnet!"

"No problem."

Then they all turned and saw the Sea Spire, just as a large chunk of rock crumbled away from near the top of the tower. Amethyst and Pearl's argument cut of abruptly, and even Steven was taken aback; the last time, it hadn't been nearly as bad. Maybe they got here later this time?

"Oh, it wasn't nearly this bad a hundred years ago," Pearl lamented.

There was a pause.

"I-I'm sensing some structural instability."

Nobody else caught the hesitation, but Steven whipped around to face Garnet, who shook her head slightly in his direction.

She looked angry. Steven shuddered.

"This place is really something," Amethyst said suddenly. "It's old enough that the stone's literally falling apart, but it's still standing. Wonder who built it..."

"I'm not certain, but I believe it was a group of homeworld Bismuths," Pearl replied, hand to her chin in thought. "Certainly not the weaponsmith that Garnet and I knew, of course. She was very pointed about _not_ doing as the rest did."

Amethyst hummed in thought. "Think I met her once," she mused. "Maybe not."

"Of course not," Garnet told her forcefully. "Bismuth vanished long before you joined us. There was no time for you to meet her. It was impossible."

The purple gem shrugged in reply, and the subject was dropped.

* * *

"What's the holdup?" Amethyst asked when Garnet stopped them as the edge of a cliff. "We could clear this easily!"

In reply, Garnet sent a rock across the gap. Except that it only went halfway before dropping like...

Well, like a rock.

The sound of wrenching metal was only a little scary, Steven told himself.

"Oh, I know!" he said out loud. He pulled out the rope and a small hook that would have usually help up a curtain, and tied the two together. With a quick toss, the hook went into the building through a diamond-shaped window and out through the door, where he tied it off. Then he took a deep breath and jumped.

It wasn't as bad this time as the last; somehow the vortex seemed weaker. Maybe it was the magic weakening, or maybe his strength had held from the future, but he could figure it out later.

"Steven, way to go! Heh, come on," Amethyst beamed, pulling out her trademark weapon. The spiked balls on the end dug into the inside of the window, anchoring the whip like a grappling hook, and she swung all three Gems across.

"Don't ever do that again," Pearl told him surprisingly calmly, and he chuckled. "But, it was very well thought-out."

"I'll say," Amethyst cut in, "I didn't even think of that and I'm the one with the whip!"

Steven couldn't tell if she was just trying to make him feel good, because he was pretty sure she'd have thought of that.

Garnet ruffled his hair fondly, and they continued on.

* * *

The rest of the trip turned out almost as Steven remembered it, failure and all - he couldn't have all the glory, that would be abusing his circumstance - and they were at the top of the Sea Spire, but a little earlier than they had been the first time. Steven swung his boring blue backpack (Pearl had chanted "practical backpack" instead) and got out the Moon Goddess Statue, holding it out to Garnet, who accepted it with an odd look.

He really needed to figure out what was wrong with her.

Then she placed it on the pedestal, and they waited ten minutes for midnight, and then everything stopped.

"What happened?"

"The spire is frozen in time," she said. "It was a last resort, in case the spire started collapsing without a Bismuth nearby to fix it. Now we can repair or replace all the broken parts in our own time." She smiled at him. "All thanks to you, Steven."

Pearl already seemed to be making plans, specifically to remove all the frozen crystal shrimps (and Steven still didn't know exactly what those were, he didn't forget), and Amethyst was naturally arguing to keep them as exotic pets.

For the first time since coming back, Steven actually felt like he was back at home, an actual Crystal Gem once again instead of the rookie who didn't know better. It felt good.

It also felt incredibly scary.

* * *

 **Yup, they saved the Spire. I figured they'd have to, since Steven's already changed the past and wouldn't want to fail his test the second time around. Also because it gives me a big event to point at and say "THIS IS WHERE EVERYTHING CHANGED", but shhhhhh.**

 **And the Moon Goddess Statue stops time, using the full moon as a sort of anchor. Ordinarily, Bismuths or a larger group of non-specialised gems would have fixed it before, but it was a last resort as stated. I think it explains decently why they knew for certain that they only had until midnight. Garnet's future vision also would have worked, except that she couldn't have seen the Spire collapsing and not made sure that Steven had the statue.**

 **I feel like these are getting more and more difficult to write, but I'm hanging in there. Once I get to a certain point that I'm not going to spoil, it'll get much easier.**

 **Next time, Together Breakfast. Or Frybo. Or Cat Fingers. Or Bubble Buddies. Or Serious Steven.**

 **Come to think of it, a lot of the first episodes are just Steven screwing things up by existing.**

 **Huh.**


	4. Together Breakfast

**Still don't own. This is redundant.**

* * *

It was morning two weeks later, and even after having his cheeseburger backpack (and it was the same one, he checked) delivered to him, Steven felt like he was missing something.

It was too early to meet Connie for the first time, and he'd checked the beach every day either way. The teacups was after that, so it wasn't that either.

Maybe it was something mundane. Something like getting rid of the old, boring backpack that he'd had to use. He'd found a place for that inside his cheeseburger backpack though, so it wasn't like he'd forgotten about it.

Maybe he'd get his answer when the Gems were back. Seriously, why were they taking so long? He knew that they didn't really need sleep or food to live, but it still made him feel better when they stayed at home for the night. Even though he knew they'd handled everything fine until the handship came, their past selves seemed determined to act differently than last time, and he was afraid that they'd find a gem mutant or something equally timeline-changing while they were away.

He was about to give up and look around the beach for Connie again (it wasn't paranoia, she definitely could be there at any time) when the warp pad glowed and Garnet stood there, posed with a hand on her hip and one in her hair.

He wondered how she'd gotten in that position. Maybe Ruby and Sapphire were flirting in her head?

He nodded. That had to be it.

Then he noticed the wrapped up scroll in her hand. "Hey Garnet, what's that?" he asked, pointing it out.

She unraveled it, revealing some vaguely familiar markings. "I need to burn it," she said.

"But what is it?" A heavy silence ensued. "Garnet, what aren't you telling me?"

The silence continued, and Steven found himself staring at the markings once more. There was something about them that just seemed-

 _n-ee- - fhrrrrr-_

"It's... A gem?"

"Dunno," Garnet said. Steven clutched at the tight feeling in his chest, and she manoeuvred him to the bench, sitting down alongside him. "Your mother was able to hear the thoughts of broken gems, sometimes," she told him after another silence. He knew that Ruby and Sapphire was arguing about this, so he didn't push. "I think you're hearing them now."

The scroll was emitting what seemed to be static noises, but every now and then he could almost make out a word.

 _paaaiin_

He whimpered, and Garnet drew him into a hug.

"Steven, I-I know how it feels to see something I hate, and not be able to change it." The unsureness in her voice made Steven stare at her. "I can see the future, possible paths that we may or may not take. I have the map, and I steer the ship, but..." She sighed, resting her head in her hands. "A ship is heavy, and no matter how much you turn the wheel, sometimes you can't go where you want. Sometimes the map is wrong, a landslide closed off a river and the current changed when you weren't looking. Sometimes, no matter what you want to happen, something else will make it impossible."

They sat together for a good while, Steven listening to the broken voice of the shattered gem and Garnet comforting him silently.

After what felt like hours, he rubbed his eyes and the last of his tears came off on his arm. Garnet did the same behind her visor, and he pretended not to notice.

"...Why do you need to burn it?" he asked once he felt like he could talk again. "I-isn't there some way to fix gems like this?"

Garnet hummed. "There was. Your mother could heal a broken gem, and she had a fountain that could do the same."

"Then if we take her to the fountain, we could make her better!"

How Steven didn't remember this tortured gem, he didn't know, but he wasn't about to fail her again. The desperation in his voice was clear.

"Can't," Garnet's single-worded answer shattered his hopes. "This gem is too far gone. I can release her from her prison and bubble her, but the fountain was never potent enough to fix a gem that couldn't even form. With this kind of damage, even Rose Quartz might have failed."

Steven weighed his options. He didn't want to reveal any more of his secret abilities without making a good excuse as to how he'd learned about them, but he _needed_ to save this gem.

 _Lapis._

That wasn't the broken gem talking, and Steven paused. Lapis was in the mirror right now, wasn't she? Why would they want him to think about her? She wasn't relevent right now. He couldn't save her until Pearl gave the mirror to him, and he couldn't use her to save the new gem...

But he could use something related.

"Garnet, I have healing spit," he confessed, thinking fast. "I burned my hand on the sand yesterday, and when I put it in my mouth it healed!" That had actually happened, so it wasn't something Garnet could easily question.

Garnet shook her head. "Right now, the gem fragments are stuck to the paper, so you can't heal it. If we burn her off the paper, she could take refuge in organic matter, and that includes you if you get too close. It's too dangerous."

"But what if we didn't burn her off? What if we soaked her off instead? We can soak the ink off the paper, and then we could mix in my healing spit and it could heal her!"

"And if not?"

"Then we could... Boil her out, or leave the water in the sun to disappear, and wait for my healing power to get stronger?"

"That could work..."

* * *

After a few more minutes of brainstorming (and hiding the scroll from Amethyst; they hadn't been quite ready to get it wet at that point), the pair had decided to take a few gallons of water to Garnet's room; enough to account for evaporation, but not enough to turn the lava into rock if they spilled it. They also took a cooking bowl for the actual soaking so that Steven's spit wasn't too dilute, and a cup so that they didn't have to tip the entire multiple-gallon container each time they needed to refill the bowl.

The soaking went well, and in a couple of minutes, they picked out the scroll itself, washed the few clinging fragments into the bowl, and discarded the paper. The shimmering mass of green and purple made Garnet cringe, until Steven tilted his head and the colors sparkled into each other. When he told her, she visibly relaxed.

After that, Garnet spent twenty minutes hovering the bowl over the lava. Steven would have helped, but he couldn't spend more than a minute at a time close enough, and lava still gave him the creeps after Bismuth.

"I... Guess it's ready then," Steven said once they'd both stared at the gem-encrusted water. They were both very nervous about this. For Steven, it meant that the whole future would change, and after his earlier conversation with Garnet, he wasn't sure that he was ready for that.

As for Garnet, who knew? Maybe this was one of the landslides she'd talked about, leading the future onto a different path. That made Steven more nervous than ever.

Finally, Steven willed up his courage and spat into the bowl.

Nothing happened at first, but as he added more spit, the fragments started to pool into the centre of the bowl, slowly fusing into larger chunks. Whenever they stopped, Garnet shook the bowl to help them along, and soon they'd reverse-tumbled a rectangular gem that shimmered between green and purple as the light caught it.

"The gem will need time to rebuild her form," Garnet told him. "Ame-"

Before she could finish her sentence, a purple light spread along the walls as the gem levitated out of the bowl, before exploding into a humanoid mass of white, purple and green - the same kind of mannequin that he'd seen when other gems remormed.

Then the form glitched visibly, collapsed in on itself and transformed into a shapeless blot of light. Garnet poofed it before it could form.

"Did you see that?" Steven asked after a moment of quiet. Garnet nodded.

"It was a risk," she replied. "A risk that I've taken too many times today. Do you regret it?"

He shook his head, sniffing. "I think it hurt more when it was shattered. I'm glad I could at least do something, even if it didn't work completely."

She smiled in return, and sat down against one of the walls. Steven joined her without hesitation. "I'm proud of you, Steven," she said, squeezing his shoulder. "You handled this like a true Crystal Gem."

"I guess sometimes you really can't change things," Steven echoed, and she gave a closed-mouthed chuckle.

"I think you proved me wrong in that," she beamed. "I had no idea how I could save her when I warped back. I was prepared to end a tortured gem's suffering, but you did so much better! Now she's safe and sound in a bubble, and you're the one who changed that. Like I said, I'm proud of you."

Steven could only smile.

* * *

 **I figured it was about time to start living up to the show on which this fanfic was based, so here is your overdue helping of feels.**

 **You're welcome.**

 **If you think about it, the first episodes have just as much horrific and creepy as the later ones, it's just that Steven, and by extension we, didn't think about it. My headcanon is that canon!Garnet burned Steven's phone because she didn't want him remembering that he incinerated the painting's gem and feeling bad about it when he learned more about the gems.**

 **I went through many different ideas for this chapter. Steven could have stolen the painting and tried to heal it directly, or tried to burn it and then heal it, or tried to soak it and then heal it, or tried to take it to his mother's fountain; but eventually I went the route that happened to give us some bonding between Steven and Garnet.**

 **And for more horrific/creepy, what are the gem shards in Frybo? I'm still torn on whether they used to be fully-fledged gems, or if they were just gem-shaped tools that weren't as sentient. Maybe I'll get a transcript of Pearl's speech to see if that answers it.**

 **Next time, Frybo. Or not, maybe I'll just gloss over that instead. Cat Fingers too. Hmm.**

 **And a small edit: No, the last two chapters haven't included their namesakes. Remember that this all happened around two years earlier from Steven's perspective, and he's the one that initiated those parts. He's bound to forget most of it.**


	5. Frybo

**Say Disclaimer again! I dare you! I double dare you!**

* * *

The Gems had been really busy lately, Steven mused. He was supposed to have chores, but Pearl usually did them herself because she was a perfectionist. Now, however, he was folding his own clothes and putting them into neat piles. Well, neat for him. Pearl would really be bothered by the asymmetry of it all, and would take another twenty minutes to reassemble it, no matter how practical it was to have one pile for pants and another pile for tops, along with five full, ready-stacked sets of clothing for when he was in a hurry.

When he was done, he frowned at the lone pair of pants. There was a top missing, and he couldn't remember ruining any since he'd come back to the past; before then, there hadn't been anything dangerous enough to tear his clothes.

"Well, it's a mystery," he said to the pants. He was admittedly a little lonely. "I guess there's no reason not to put you on the pants pile."

He did so, and then moved the uneven piles one-by-one to the closet. Leaving them out was just asking for Amethyst or Lion to knock them over, and he wouldn't put it past Lion to show up even though he hadn't met him yet, so he didn't want to push his luck.

Just as he was leaving, he spotted the missing top hanging from a rafter and, deciding not to question how it had gotten up there, folded it and put it on the tops pile.

Job done, Steven set out to the Big Donut, a vaguely uneasy feeling in his stomach.

Everything would be fine though, he told himself. He was only going out to get a donut.

* * *

An entirety-of-Steven-Universe's-wardrobe monster was not fine. Luckily he'd packed the underwear separately.

* * *

 **Not every episode can end with a punch to the heart.**

 **Well, tell that to the Crewniverse. They punch you so hard that the shockwave leaves you infertile. Every. Episode.**

 **Either way, this was Frybo. I was really struggling with this one, so I copped out. Shut up.**

 **Maybe some day I'll redo this chapter in a way that isn't entirely disappointing.**

 **As you can probably tell, I'm back at my school, hence the total lack of activity. Three A-levels that I actually want to pass, along with a game design course on the side and an addiction to LoL do not translate into free time, so my writing will take a hit. I'll try to get an episode done at the very least each fortnight.**

 **Next time, another cop-out probably. I'm ambivalent; I want to have a chapter for each episode so that the chapter numbers match up, but at the same time it's almost impossible for literally any event in Cat Fingers to take place-**

 **Although...**


	6. Cat Fingers

**Secretly it was my idea all along, but officially I'm not responsible for Steven Universe.**

* * *

"Almost done," Greg beamed as he hosed down the van. Steven had to wonder what kind of skill his dad had, to be able to aim so close to the open doors without getting the inside of the van wet. "Steven, get the hubcaps!"

"Already hubbed," Steven said smugly, nodding at his handiwork in satisfaction.

Greg pointed the hose at each wheel, removing the soap and the dirt that came with it. "Great! This is a high-profile job! If we do this right, we might get political favors!"

"But why do we even need political favors?"

Greg thought for a moment, before shrugging with an unsure sound. "But you never know when it could come in handy," he finished.

Steven was about to reply when Amethyst, in the form of a cat, yanked the hose out of his hand and aimed it at his face. It was his quick reaction that left him inside a bubble instead of soaked to the skin.

He realised his mistake about as quickly as Amethyst's jaw dropped. "Oh my gosh! You can make a bubble now? We gotta show the others!"

"Amethyst-" the youngest Gem complained, but it fell on deaf ears as she transformed back into herself. Then he was tumbling around inside the bubble, rolling down the street towards the temple, an unholy grin plastered to the face of his kidnapper. "W-woah! Um, important Gem businessman coming through! Make way for-"

What everyone had to make way for was left unrepeated as he clipped a lamppost and went sailing past the Big Donut and onto the beach.

* * *

"Guys! Guys! You ain't never believing this!"

Pearl sighed as she opened the door, oven mitts folded in one hand. "Amethyst, must you constantly desecrate the engli-sh..."

"I am in a bubble," Steven supplied helpfully, sitting cross-legged in his bubble as Pearl stared.

"You are in a bubble," she repeated. Steven winced as tears came to her eyes, but relaxed when the corners of her mouth tilted upwards and she sniffed. "Just like Rose was. Congratulations, Steven!"

"Yo G," Amethyst bellowed, the suddenness sending the others into the air. "Surprise!"

Garnet appeared at the door a moment later, caressing the result of Pearl's hard work at the oven. Well, maybe caressing was the wrong word.

Babying. Clearly the superior choice of vocabulary, Steven's brain said. He quietly shushed it.

"Good job Steven," Garnet said evenly. "I knew you could do it. Future vision."

"I-" Pearl stumbled, then threw her arms over her head in exasperation. "Garnet! We all agreed not to tell Steven about that!"

"I took a risk," Garnet told her, winking at Steven. Steven winked back, heedless of the visor covering Garnet's eyes.

"We should take him on the next mission," Amethyst beamed, rapping on the bubble with her knuckle. "This thing could really come in handy."

Steven threw his arms in the air. His second mission! Well, his second second mission. "Oh! Oh! I can help! Can I come, Pearl?" he begged, picking her as the most difficult target. Garnet was probably already considering it after his maturity with the scroll, and Amethyst was the one who brought up the idea, so Pearl's resistance was what he'd need to concentrate on. Hopefully she'd defer to Garnet, who would say he could go.

Smiling apologetically and clasping her hands, Pearl said, "I don't know. You did handle your first mission surprisingly well, but after the wardrobe mishap yesterday, I'm not sure that's a good idea... Uhh," she stuttered as Steven brought out his secret technique: puppy eyes. "...Garnet, a little help?"

Just as planned.

Garnet gave Pearl a thumbs up, the pie teetering on the tip of her thumb, and turned back to Steven. "Steven."

Steven turned up his puppy eyes technique, drawing his neck in slightly and curling up a little more, just as the future Garnet had taught him. There was a pause.

"...Yeah, okay, you can come."

Pearl bristled. "You were _supposed_ to break it to him gently that he _can't_ come, because it's _dangerous_ and he isn't ready as a human child! What if he's hurt? You're so... infuriating today!"

"That's fair," Garnet replied. "I'm guess I'm just feeling... _red_ dy for today's mission. Wouldn't wanna give Steven the _cold shoulder_ after his success before."

Steven tried not to laugh at the fusion jokes, he really did. Thankfully, he succeeded, if only barely. Amethyst had much less luck, probably because she wasn't trying, while Pearl just simmered.

For the rest of the preparation.

Which took until sunset.

* * *

Steven got up bright and early the next day, and slipped out to walk along the beach. It had become routine since he'd gone back in time, to come here on the off chance that he'd meet Connie early, and he knew that the Gems had noticed. But even though the day he'd meet her was tomorrow and she wouldn't come to the beach two days in a row, he didn't want to take any chances.

She wasn't there.

He shrugged on the outside, but in reality he was close to tears. He wanted to meet someone familiar, to tell them what was going on, to just share his worries with someone who could listen. Why did he have to be the only one who'd come back in time?

But at the same time he felt awful for wondering that, because then whoever had come back with him would lose everyone else that they knew. Even with just two birthdays between them, he still couldn't relate to the Gems as they were now, and they were thousands of years old! The time he'd spent with them was a fraction of a fraction of their lives, so he couldn't imagine how much a human would change in that time.

But it wasn't only the Gems who had changed in that time, was it? He'd grown too. Just a week ago he would have been gorging himself on cookie cats, and now here he was, worrying about the ethics of time travel or whatever Stevonnie would say.

Sighing heavily, Steven turned to the temple just as the tide threatened to wash his feet. He had a Gem Sloop to catch.

* * *

"Alright Steven, are you sure you understand?" Pearl asked for what felt like the twentieth time. Steven was starting to get a little irritated, but he was supposed to be a kid who didn't know any better, so he had to be mature and patient about this.

And wasn't that the most backwards thing he'd ever thought?

"Yep," he replied instead of going off on another tangent about how terrible time travel was, "We're going to a living island!"

"Not _just_ a living island, mind you," Pearl reminded him. "It was once a Homeworld ship, but it was all but destroyed during the war. Now that it's had time to regenerate, it's resurfaced, and we need to sink it again."

Amethyst, floating in one of Steven's bubbles next to the Sloop, stopped running and was immediately thrown head over heels. "C-careful though," she managed as she attempted unsuccessfully to stand back up, "I've heard it has all kinds of deadly weapons on board, like... like special gem lasers, and spike traps! Careful not to get poofed!"

Steven suppressed a shudder, all too familiar with the Homeworld's weaponry, from both first- and second-hand experience. Thankfully the other Gems - meaning Pearl - mistook the motion for him being cold.

"Found a coat," Garnet said, pulling a pink puffy coat out from behind her back. Steven forced himself not to think about future vision.

* * *

They'd been boating for the longer half of a day when land - or what could be loosely construed as land if the viewer was blind and unable to hear the metallic clangs revertebrating through the water - climbed sluggishly over the horizon.

Not much of the ship was visible, just a long, pinkish-grey area breaking the surface and four much smaller islands in front. Cracks caused by battle damage and weathering spiderwebbed between the more angular, intentional lines, and small sections of the panels had come off, exposing the dulled, unrefined minerals underneath.

"Head to the back," Garnet ordered, and Pearl realigned the sails.

It was only when they came closer to the ship that its size was made clear. The smaller islands towered over the Sloop, while the sloping back end of the ship reminded Steven of the cliff into which his home was built. A massive rectangular entrance was open at the back, periodically engulfed by the waves.

"We're going in _there_?" Pearl screeched, emphasised as another wave crashed into the opening, snapping like a whipcrack at its ceiling. "We'll be crushed!"

"I could bubble us," Steven offered.

Garnet dismissed them both. "We'll be fine. We just need to time this right. Be ready to go at any time."

* * *

"Am I... a bird?"

Steven glanced up at Pearl's forehead - he wasn't actually playing, but had opted instead to make sure Amethyst didn't cheat.

"Wow, you actually got that?" The aforementioned Gem grinned in reply. "Okay, your turn."

Pearl's smile was a little scary. "Ooh, I've got a really good one." She pulled the sheet of paper off her head, erased the bird - wincing at how poorly proportioned it was - and turned so that she couldn't be seen, pausing halfway through her scrawling to sharpen the pencil with her otherwise unoccupied spear.

"NOW!"

"Wha-GO GO GO!"

"I'm trying! I tripped!"

"Over me! I noticed! Steven, get that rope!"

The next ten seconds were not fun for anyone.

* * *

"Honestly, Garnet," Pearl admonished as they looked around, her gem functioning as a flashlight. "You could have at least given us a little warning."

"I did," Garnet said unrepentantly, folding her arms. "I said 'Be ready to go at any time'. You weren't ready."

Amethyst smirked in her direction. "I think you just got _distracted_ , if you know what I mean," she ribbed, and Garnet turned away slightly.

Was that a blush?

Steven shook himself before he gave anything away. He'd have plenty of time to ship it once the more literal ship sunk.

Pulling out a flashlight and clicking it on, he tried to find his feet from the tangled pile of limbs belonging to Amethyst and Pearl. Once he found a pair that seemed to be of Steveny shape, size and color, he pulled them free and climbed to sit on the almost horizontal mast. When he was confident that the subtle rocking of the ship wasn't going to overturn him, he turned his light and attention to the ground outside the Sloop.

They seemed to be in a hallway, wedged between two walls. On one side was the water they'd been swept in on, lapping menacingly at the Sloop and rippling whenever one of the rhythmic clangs echoed through the area. On the other side was dry land, sloping upwards and leading to a corner.

Garnet, taking in the information alongside him, turned to the others with a knowing smile. "As much as I'd like to lay here all day, we have a ship to sink. We need to search for the core."

Pearl immediately leapt to her feet, knocking Amethyst for six as she flailed her arms, half-formed excuses tumbling from her mouth. Garnet was clearly struggling not to laugh.

"What Pearl means is that we were just about to do the thing," Amethyst interjected, and Pearl nodded mutely. They both jumped out of the Sloop and into Steven's spotlight, where Garnet joined them.

"Our first order of business is to find the core," she said. "Steven, you watch over the Sloop; we'll need it in ship shape so we can leave. Find out if it's broken while we're gone, and tell me when we get back."

"Aye aye," Steven cheered, saluting. That done, the other Gems followed Pearl's light until the disappeared around the corner.

He sighed as he brought the flashlight to the purple-stained wooden bottom of the boat, inspecting the surface for holes. When none were readily visible, he bobbed and weaved his head, trying to find an angle that betrayed any damage.

"This is so boring."

* * *

"That was so boring."

When no answer was forthcoming from the Gems, Steven flopped onto the boat's deck. The slight rocking motion made him feel ill, but he couldn't be bothered to get up, so he ignored it. "I almost found a hole," he continued. "Well, I thought I did. It was just a knot in the wood."

"The Gem Sloop isn't made from wood," Pearl sighed from underneath the boat.

"Then how does it have knots?"

"In any case," she overlooked his comment entirely, obviously too awed at his reasoning to reply, "thank you for watching it while we were gone. Even if you were making hand shadows when we got back."

"I had a surplus of both flashlights _and_ hands," he shrugged, unrepentant. "It was only natural for me to engage in a little artistry."

Amethyst's laughter echoed up, and he grinned even as he bounced dangerously over the deck.

And speaking of... "Why are you all carrying the Sloop anyway?"

"We're taking it to the core," Garnet replied. "We'll punch a hole in the roof, and ride the Sloop up through it when we sink the ship. We're here now."

* * *

"Get ready, Gems," Garnet ordered. Steven was still in his place on the Sloop, Pearl was positioned on top of the mast, Amethyst stood off to the side, and Garnet herself faced the glowing core of the ship. "Three, two, one, now!"

As the leader punched through the core, Pearl sliced a circle through the roof, which was pulled away by Amethyst's whip before it fell onto the Sloop. Steven's stomach flew up to his chest as the ship lurched downwards.

Seawater rushed through the passage to the core, and they all - barring Garnet - shrieked as the wave carried the boat feet away from the intended exit.

"Whoops," Garnet muttered. "Didn't think that through."

"Please remind me which of us has future vision," Pearl growled through gritted teeth.

"I can't see everything, you know that. We would've gone the long way if- nevermind."

Steven narrowed his eyes. Further proof that Garnet was hiding something. An idea half-formed in his head, but he squashed it down. She'd have told him if she was back too. She'd have noticed.

His thoughts were interrupted by the horrid scraping of boat on wall, as the water level pushed them stowards the ceiling.

Pearl's eyes wandered upwards and she grimaced in mild panic as the others followed her gaze. "The mast will snap! We have to make another hole or we'll be stranded!" She readied her blade, but Amethyst grabbed the hilt.

"I can't pull it away! There's no room outside the Sloop and I can't get enough pull from inside!"

"Garnet?"

"No. I'd damage the sails if I shattered it, and I'd need to stand on the Sloop if I wanted to move it. We'd sink."

Just then the wall was burst like a grape by the water pressure. Steven pulled up a bubble in record time as all the force of the ocean slammed into it, and he cried out as it drained more energy from his gem to compensate.

After the initial contact, the energy requirement for the bubble dropped enough that he could look at the other Gems. Pearl was paler than her gem, Amethyst looked like she'd swallowed a rock, and Garnet seemed torn between incredibly proud and incredibly worried. "Quick thinking, Steven." She went to mess up his hair, but apparently thought better of it. "How long do you think you can hold it?"

Steven noticed the other Gems turn incredulous eyes on the fusion as he answered. "I don't know-" About to compare the situation to his and Connie's trip under the sea, he stopped himself just in time. "I've haven't ever done it before today." The technical truth.

As it turned out, the answer didn't matter; the roof crumbled into tiny panels at that point, and the ship dropped around them to surround them in open sky. Once the waves subsided, Steven dropped the bubble and the Sloop came to a rest on the endless expanse.

A thought occurred. "Do you guys know which way Beach City is?"

Nobody answered. Steven pulled his backpack from under a seat, and realised that he'd forgotten something.

"Does anyone want a sea-salted bagel?"

Nobody answered.

* * *

 **This chapter has been sitting here for such a long time. To give you an idea, I'm pretty sure I started it right after I finished the last one. Considering that the story was dead until I posted this, that's a pretty long time.**

 **There was good reason though: this chapter was horrible to write.**

 **I have this whole 'one chapter per episode' thing, but Cat Fingers just couldn't happen now that Steven knows that the cats hate water. Besides which, he has greater control over his transformations now anyway. So I had to find something in the episode that I could expand into its own chapter without cheesing out like with Frybo. Enter the Gems' mission.**

 **Next time, Bubble Buddies. While I was dead, I did vaguely plan out a bunch of chapters, so I know what I'm working towards now, so expect them a little faster.**


	7. Bubble Buddies

**Look at all the previous disclaimers and then come back and say I own Steven Universe.**

* * *

 _Steven._

 _Connie._

 _Come on, answer me._

 _You._

 _...Us?_

 _I know you're there somewhere... right?_

 _..._

 _Steven._

 _Connie._

* * *

Steven sighed as the void made itself obvious once more. It was happening every night now, and he wondered if he should tell the Gems about it.

He decided against it. As much as he hated not being able to go to them, he couldn't be sure that this wasn't related to the time travel. He couldn't risk them asking questions.

It felt like there was a wedge being driven between himself and his family. As confusing as his negative emotions were, he could safely say that he _despised_ the idea of growing apart from them.

No, he'd tell them eventually. He knew himself well enough to know that. He'd keep putting it off, hiding the problem until the strain on his relationship with them was too much to bear, and then he'd crack and the whole facade would come crashing down around everyone's ears. He only hoped they could forgive him when it was all over.

"You're thinking too deep, Steven," he chided himself. Deep thoughts weren't _him_. He was supposed to be the happy-go-lucky, everything-will-turn-out-alright person who reassured everyone else. No more moping.

Shaking his head to clear the cobwebs, he smiled in spite of himself. Today was the day! The sun was shining, the birds singing, and-

* * *

Barely hidden from the temple, Steven slumped like the sand surrounding him as the beach grew wetter, the only dry patch around himself thanks to the shield floating above his head.

It was funny though, his eyes didn't feel very dry.

Blinking through the tears, he looked around for something to take his mind off Connie. Maybe she'd just come tomorrow instead. Or maybe he could meet her somewhere el-

Oh, a rock. That would do. It was slightly smaller than his fist. Rounded and flattened into a pebble shape. A good rock for skipping, no doubt.

First he needed to clean all the wet sand off it, so he rubbed it against his pants leg. There would be more sand joining that smear anyway; he was on a rainy beach after all. When it was done, he pocketed the stone and looked around for a good place to skip from. He absently cancelled his shield as he saw a relatively dry area near the sea - or at the very least an area where he wouldn't be wading through quicksand to get a good angle.

The sand squelched beneath his feet as he held the rock left-handed - the right still holding Connie's glowing bracelet - and then he whipped his arm forward, spinning and releasing the stone in a perfect throw.

It hit a wave.

One chance and he'd messed it up because of the weather.

Steven sunk to his knees. He wanted to scream, but he knew the Gems would hear and come running, and he didn't want to see them right now.

Right now he only wanted to see Connie.

He couldn't see through his tears anymore, and there wasn't anyone else to see, so he just let them fall.

"It _was_ a good throw, you know," a voice spoke from behind him. "It's just a pity that wave came at such an unfortunate time."

"Hey, Pearl," he greeted miserably. "Thanks."

A skinny arm dropped something into his lap, and he looked down at it. "I thought we only had bright umbrellas," he said quietly.

Pearl tutted, pulling him to his feet and taking him by the shoulder. "Bright and cheery doesn't always fit the mood, Steven. Sometimes you need to use dull colors to put emphasis on what's really important. Like so!"

Belatedly, Steven realised that he'd been led into view of his house, and... "Wow."

"Breathtaking, isn't it?" Pearl smiled as she regarded the towering form of the temple. "The grey of stone and sky, the browns of wet sand and wood - and of all that, what is your eye is drawn to? None other than your home, basking in a warm orange glow."

She sighed in contentment, before turning to face Steven properly for the first time. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"There's nothing to talk about," he said a little too quickly. He was glad that his sweat was hidden by the water already dripping off him, but Pearl still didn't seem to buy it. At her raised eyebrow, he sighed. "Okay, maybe there's a lot to talk about, but it's kinda... private?"

"Private like what?" she asked skeptically.

He gulped. "Uhh, um... Private like fusion?" He immediately kicked himself for his outburst, but the damage was done.

"You know about fusion?" Despite her words, Pearl seemed less than surprised. Almost like something she'd been expecting was just proven true.

"Oh man, I'm just making everything worse!"

He found himself in a hug. It was a very wet hug thanks to the rain, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. "Steven, if you don't want to talk about it right now then none of us will make you. But if you _ever_ need to tell us something, no matter how silly you think it is, we're here for you."

A whole new wave of tears escaped Steven's eyes before he could stop them, but he nodded into Pearl's shoulder. "Th-thanks, Pearl."

She released the hug, smiling - if a little irked by the tear stains - and pulled the umbrella from his loose grasp. In an expert motion she flipped it open, and handed it back to him. "Oh, and be sure to knock on the door before you come in. Wet sand is very difficult to clean."

He laughed a little jerkily, and in the short time that the umbrella obscured his view, she was already waving from the front door of his home. He waved back and turned back towards his previous spot on the beach.

There was a girl there.

"Connie?"

The girl looked up, face reflecting his shock. "Steven?"

"Are you..." He trailed off, unsure of how to ask, but an instant later he knew exactly what to say. "Are you the Strawberry?"

"That depends," she replied critically, betrayed by the upturned corners of her mouth. Are _you_ the Biscuit?"

He didn't even bother hiding the tears from her, throwing himself into a hug that catapulted them both into the wet sand. "Oh Connie, I missed you so much! I came back and I was all alone and we never would have been together again and Stevonnie would have been different..." The rest of his blubbering faded into unintelligibility, and Connie wasn't doing much better.

"I'm sorry, Steven. I was all ready to... t-to _lie_ to you and say we never met... It just felt so-"

"-Wrong!" Steven interjected, throat raw as he pulled back from the hug and beamed at the face he thought he'd never see again. "I-I was gonna do that too. Oh, but we don't have to lie anymore! I'm so sorry I even _thought_ about doing it!"

Connie giggled shakily, patting him on the shoulder. "I did it too, remember?"

"No you didn't, you just thought about it. That's different!"

"Then you just thought about it too, and that's different too," she said firmly.

Steven couldn't argue that point. "So we're not blaming each other."

"No, we're blaming time travel, of course!"

"Right, time travel. **_Time travel..._** " he growled in a voice once reserved for Kevin.

There was comfortable silence for a moment as they both calmed down, still gazing into each other's eyes. Reflecting on the previous conversation, it had been a little nonsensical, but neither of them regretted that in the slightest. "We should get under the cliff to dry off," Connie finally said. "Or at least use the umbrella that you're holding."

Sheepishly, Steven tilted the forgotten umbrella to shield Connie. They both noticed the problem immediately. "I guess it's not made for two people," he said, rain still pouring onto his head.

"You can't say that just yet," she admonished, putting a hand on the umbrella handle, and locking fingers with Steven - purely coincidental, of course. "We haven't even tried to get closer..."

* * *

Pearl was right, they thought as they passed the golden beacon that was Steven's home. When you got past how dreary the rain was (and how _evil_ it was for almost separating Steven and Connie), it made everything else feel so much brighter!

They turned the corner onto the seaside of Beach City, admiring all the pretty lights coming from the beachfront stores.

And as it turned out, Connie had been right too. There had been plenty of room for them both, when they just put their heads together-

Oh, who were they kidding? "I can't believe we _kissed_!" Stevonnie giggled in delight. The umbrella served as a perfect excuse to weave their fingers together, and they milked that opportunity for all it was worth. "I need to celebrate. But how?"

They glanced at each store in turn, then shook their head. "Food would just get soggy," they explained to themself, "and nothing here really seems celebratory enough. We need to try something we've never done before, to remind oursel..f..ves that we tried something we've never done before!"

The answer came immediately as their hip ground painfully against Steven's pants waistband - usually the slightly uncomfortable fit of their mishmashed clothing could be ignored, but the water and grit from the beach certainly didn't help that matter.

Stevonnie grimaced, pulling on the waistband to observe the angry red splotches marring their hip. A thrill of fear and anticipation made them shiver (or maybe that was just the wind) as they made up their mind.

"I need to go clothes shopping."

* * *

It took a surprisingly long time to find a proper clothes shop in Beach City. The Connie side of Stevonnie reasoned that it was a tourist city, so there was more money to be made in novelty t-shirt stores and the like. The Steven half was just peeved that it had taken so long. And Connie didn't exactly disagree, either.

"Two hours," they muttered as the bell signified their entry. "Two hours wandering around in the rain to find a _clothes shop_."

The lady in charge barely glanced up as they entered, but the magazine she'd been paging through was quickly forgotten on the counter at the sight of them. "Wow, are you doing okay?"

Stevonnie had seen better days. Their pants had gone navy blue from all the water soaked into them, and Steven's signature star was easily visible through the plastered-on piece of fabric that had been Connie's shirt. Not to mention how wrinkled their skin would have been if they weren't part gem.

"I am now that I can finally get some clothes," they replied with an exhausted but satisfied grin, shaking off their surprisingly ineffective umbrella into the outside darkness. "Is this the _only_ clothes store in the city?"

"Uh, yeah it is actually," the lady - who seemed to be in her thirties, now that they looked properly, with a skinny build and a mouse-brown pixie cut - grinned wryly. "It's a nightmare getting business in this place. Most people show up new in town, buy an outfit or four, and I never hear from them again. It's like these people wear the same thing day in and day out!"

Stevonnie coughed an embarrassed laugh that thankfully went unheard.

"Oh, where are my manners?" The lady asked rhetorically. "I'm Andy Button, nice to meet you."

"Stevonnie Mahe-niverse," they replied in kind.

Andy raised an eyebrow at that. "Stevonnie? I'm sure there's a story behind that name."

"I think I was named after two different people that my parents knew," Stevonnie answered technically-truthfully, shrugging. They searched for a way out of the brewing conversation, but couldn't quite think of any. Their gem glowed nervously, and they took a calming breath.

Thankfully, an out was provided. Andy seemed to finally notice that they were dripping rainwater all over the floor, shivering slightly and going slightly blue in the face. "Oh man, that won't do at all! Come on, go into the changing room and get out of those things. I'll pass you some clothes once you're ready."

Caught off guard, Stevonnie could only blink for a moment. "I-I don't think that's a good idea," they began, before finding themself shoved into the changing room in question.

"What reason could you possibly have to not get out of those soaking clothes?" came Andy's voice from the other side of the curtain. It was then that Stevonnie realised something almost as mortifying as their current situation, given how long they'd been planning this.

"I forgot to bring any money," they admitted, trying not to think about the _other_ problem. There, now they could get out of-

"Oh, don't worry about all that," she replied, unknowingly shattering their hopes into a million pieces. "You can pay me back later. In fact, just spreading word of my shop would be payment enough, but you _need_ to change before you catch your death. Hmm, pink or blue?"

"Pink, please," they replied before registering that their answer would be taken as agreement. "Wait, I didn't-"

"Great! Now I'll just walk all the way to the back of the shop to prepare the clothes, incidentally making me _completely unable to see or hear you getting undressed_. What a convenient way to make this situation much less awkward, wouldn't you say?"

"I didn't-" they tried again, but she was having none of it.

"It'll take me at _least_ ten minutes to find the right shades," a significantly more distant voice proclaimed. "I'll be extremely disappointed to come back and find nobody to wear the clothes I picked out!"

After a pause spent staring at the curtains, which felt more like staring down Death, War and Calamity together, Stevonnie shook their head to clear it, looking down at their currently clothed body. They were becoming uncomfortably aware of what lay beneath - both the garments and what they covered.

Their gem shone brightly through their wet clothes, and they blinked to get the spots out of their eyes. "No, keep it Together," they said firmly. "We can't just walk out as Steven and Connie right now. And being in a dressing room together would be weird."

"We _are_ in a dressing room Together," they pointed out. They opened their mouth to respond but cut themselves off. "I know, it was just a joke. A poorly timed joke."

They made a calming motion with both hands. "Right, serious."

"Serious," they repeated.

"I think we should just do it," they said. "Otherwise we'll disappoint Andy!"

"I'm pretty sure she was just saying that. But I guess I'm right, we should. _I_ should. Are we or I we or I right now?"

"That confused me."

"...Us?"

"I feel like I had this conversation with myself before."

"Myself Stevonnie or myself Steven?"

"Connie, I think. Or Stevonnie?"

"Maybe we should wait until we're separate to think about this."

"A sound idea."

There was a pregnant pause, and then finally Stevonnie couldn't take it any more. "Ugh, I'll do it already, no more stalling. Right, how do these all come off...?"

Connie's shirt came off first, as it was the top layer of clothing. It hit the bench with a wet slap, caving slightly into the gaps in the wood. Then Steven's shirt joined it, leaving them topless. They didn't know whether to be relieved or unendingly embarrassed that Connie didn't yet use any extra covering, but they settled on relieved to avoid thinking about it too hard.

They almost looked down to help unbutton Steven's pants, but they caught themself just in the nick of time and thus avoided a sight that they definitely weren't ready for. After a moment of fumbling with the button, the pants joined the growing pile.

Finally, Connie's skirt - probably the main reason for Stevonnie's discomfort, now that they thought about it - came off their body and onto the bench. They straightened out the fabric where it had bunched up trying to fit inside a pair of jeans, before they turned their mind towards the one obstacle left in their quest for a new wardrobe.

Now that they were half done though, the rest didn't seem quite as daunting as it once had, so in one fell swoop they pulled off both sets of underwear and flung them away like they were other people's underwear. Which they were, from a certain point of view, so Stevonnie felt very justified in their reaction.

Still, they couldn't help feeling every bit as excited as they did humiliated. They were finally going to get new clothes! Not just a hand-me-down combo platter from their fusees either, but distinct set of Stevonnie clothes!

Then it hit them.

"Uh, Andy? We- I'm ready for the clothes now!"

"Sure, just gimme a couple seconds! I'm trying to figure out what would mesh with your piercing better! I couldn't tell what it was, exactly..."

Mystified, Stevonnie searched themself for a piercing. The view brought them harshly back to reality, and they turned away, beetroot. "Piercing?" they called instead, legs conspicuously closed.

"The one in your navel!"

Their mouth formed an O. "That's Rose Quartz!"

There was a shuffle of clothing and then the muffled tap of shoes on a floor. "That's it set then... Oh. Ohhh. Oops."

"Oops what?" the fusion asked, feigning ignorance of the fact that the entire situation could be summed up with 'oops'; at this point, it was better pretending that nothing was out of the ordinary. Maybe they'd even believe it at some point. They started squeezing the rainwater out of their hair, where it collected in the folds of the clothing below, to take their mind off things.

"This is really embarrassing, but I _may_ have forgotten to ask what gender you are. And it's very difficult to tell from a glance. It would be fine, but I'm kiiinda stumped on the underwear..."

"Oh boy," Stevonnie quoted their... half-dad. "Uh, do you do any unisex underwear?"

"Just briefs."

"Oh, that's fine."

"Any bra?"

They _almost_ checked, before the more savvy part of their mind - and nobody was quite sure which part that was anymore - decided against it. "No thanks," they concluded.

The shuffling suddenly stopped.

Stevonnie did _not_ shriek when Andy stepped through the curtains, a comically large blindfold slapped over her face and holding a bundle of dry, warm clothes. They took the pile gratefully before setting it down, gently turning the blinded intruder around, and pushing her carefully back through the curtains.

* * *

"I really don't know why I thought that was a good idea," the shopkeeper said when Stevonnie finally pushed open the curtains, wearing a smile as bright as their new gear.

"I forgive you for nearly causing my untimely demise via heart attack," they beamed, giving a twirl that showed off their entire outfit: A bright pink top with a six-pointed star on the left breast, with loose denim three-quarter-lengths and a matching jacket (fleece-lined), in a much darker blue than Steven usually wore. They took Andy's hands in their own, grin threatening to stick. "This is perfect! Thank you so much!"

Andy blushed at the praise, waving a hand negligently. "Aw, it was nothing. You look sporty so I just rolled with that and went for something comfy."

"Comfy's _right_ ," Stevonnie marvelled, bouncing a little higher than was strictly possible without gem powers. "It's like I'm wearing nothing at all!" They frowned suddenly, becoming noticeably more susceptible to gravity. "Except less weird."

Andy nodded in satisfaction, before something off caught her eye. "Do you normally go barefoot, Stevonnie?"

"...Yeah, I guess I do," they shrugged. Thinking it through, it wasn't all that weird. Connie liked to have sure footing, and Steven liked to feel closer to nature. While they both had their own footwear to cater to their needs, neither the sandals nor the sneakers would ever provide both benefits. "I like it better that way."

"Fair enough, I guess-" Andy began, interrupted by the shop door opening with a chime. "And that's my cue. Tell you what, here's a shopping bag. Gather up your wet clothes and direct some customers here if you have the chance. Quick, while the rain's letting up!" Stevonnie opened their mouth to argue, but she hushed them. "If you really want to pay me back properly, you can do that when you next come here."

"Hey, anyone here?" came the surprising voice of Lars, and Andy winced visibly.

"Oh great, the irritating one," she murmured under her breath, before turning back to her original visitor. "You'd best stay out of his way. He can get snippy. Now gather your things and enjoy your new clothes!"

Knowing how quick Lars' temper could get and feeling the exhaustion of a day in non-stop stressful situations - even if most of it had been fun in hindsight - the fusion slapped the slush that vaguely resembled a pile of clothes into the shopping bag they been given, and made a break for the door which went mercifully uninterrupted.

* * *

After a mad dash to the top of the temple's cliff, laughing and feeling the wind in their above-average volume of hair, Stevonnie lay panting on the grass, admiring the open ocean ahead. They knew they'd have to unfuse eventually, and the telltale hollow emptiness was already creeping up on them, but they wanted to enjoy being fused for just a moment longer. They could wait a few minutes.

Said minutes passed far too quickly though, as they spotted clouds and mumbled observations and contradictions to themself, and the emptiness slowly morphed into an unbearable vacuum.

They sighed forlornly at the inevitability. "I love you both," they told their constituents in no uncertain terms, and then they were gone.

When Steven and Connie became themselves again, they were _extremely_ glad that they - or another form of Them - had picked a secluded spot to defuse. They held their positions for just a moment longer than necessary, before they pulled away from the kiss, giggling in ecstacy at the surprise reminder of their upgraded relationship status. The warm glow of seeing the other again spread through them, and they slumped into each other's embrace.

Then they unceremoniously flumped onto their backs, still arm-in-arm. They both knew they looked ridiculous, but neither could bring themselves to care.

"I can't believe how exhausting that was," Connie panted, much worse for wear than the fusion had been. "I don't think back-to-back tennis practice and sword training would tire me out like _this_..."

"I..." Steven had to stop for a moment, unable to multitask sitting up and speaking. "I only remember a feeling like this once in my life... _Reaallly_ long ago... when I tried to be a coach."

"I think you told me about that one, didn't you? When you met... Sugilite, was it?"

When no answer was forthcoming, she propped herself onto her elbows, wincing as her head refused to follow immediately. She was about to further prompt the answer, but when she saw the glum expression that had become all too common on his face recently, she forgot all about her question.

"I'm... I'm sorry, Connie," Steven mumbled, in such a resigned, downtrodden tone that she almost couldn't help squeezing the living daylights out of him; her fingers even twitched in preparation for the attack before she could fully hold herself back.

Naturally, the lack of his usually unbreakable spirit was very disheartening. Connie reflected back on the past few hours, the days before they'd met up again, and the time before (after?) they'd been sent back... and she just couldn't see what he'd be apologising for.

So she asked. "What for?"

"Oh, right," he chuckled glumly, if that was even possible. "I was just thinking... What if I caused all this?"

"The time travel?"

"Yeah."

She cracked a wry grin, suddenly able to read him like a book. "Even if you did, it was an accident. There's no need to worry about it any more than that.

"But what about your parents... and your school? You have to go through all that again, all because of my stupid gem powers!"

Although she was touched at Steven's thoughtfulness despite having never had a school (or even parents, at least in the usual sense), Connie refused to just let him keep beating himself up over a What If.

"What did Stevonnie think?" He faultered for a moment, and she took the opportunity. "They didn't seem to worry much, right? That's because they know that I don't mind. Even if it was because of your gem powers, which I think is assuming wa-ay too much." She sliced her arms through the air to make it clear just how much assuming he _should_ be doing.

"But-"

She grabbed him by the shoulders, maybe a little more roughly than necessary, and he found himself unable to break eye contact. "Steven, I'd rather travel back in time with you than be left behind to worry. I'm glad that I'm here, and you moping isn't going to change the fact that I'm here with you. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes ma'am," he whimpered, and she let go, wondering how her mother had learned to do that. Moment of righteousness passed, she folded back into herself a little.

The action brought her attention to something else, and her suspicions were confirmed when she looked over to her boyfriend. She tugged experimentally at the offending material, just to make sure it wasn't a hologram.

"Steven. What are we wearing?"

* * *

The next few minutes were dedicated to theorising how their new clothing had come to be (and a little shivering at the thought of it _failing_ to happen). What was clear was that their outfits combined formed Stevonnie's new style - and that somehow, the outfits formed were coherent in and of themselves.

Steven's new clothes were almost the same as his usual set, but his t-shirt was slightly tighter and much pinker than before. His signature star had moved over to his heart, and was resized to fit its new location. His jeans were also slightly longer and darker, but that change was comparatively minimal.

On the other hand, Connie's outfit was completely unfamiliar to her. Her top was much like Steven's except that the middle was emblazoned with a bright yellow sun symbol; over which she wore an open fleece jacket. Her navy sweatpants came all the way down to her feet, and were just as easy to move in as the training gear that she once wore.

Finally, after half an hour of forming theories - only at the end of which did Connie realised that her fleece garments had come from the lining of Stevonnie's denim clothes - their stomachs rumbled in unison, and they set off down the cliff, hoping to cook themselves a meal for the evening.

They were banned from the kitchen in short order.

* * *

 **This one feels reeeaaaally long. I swear I used to do 10k word chapters in my sleep, but this one is only 4.7k and it still feels too long.**

 **The development for this chapter was insane. I wanted Stevonnie to appear, but I also wanted a will it/won't it happen moment, and I wanted to hammer home the consequences of time travel without having to permanently change the direction of the story. That's why the whole rainy beach scene happened.**

 **The awkward changing scene? Well, I had to earn that T rating somehow. In all seriousness though, I wanted them to do something special for their first fusion, and I figured that getting clothes would be a good one, and the rain also helped with that decision. Then I had to choose whether to skip the awkward changing scene and feel like a copout yet again, or to leave it in and hope it's not too adult-ish. The outfit was extremely difficult to think up, on a side note.**

 **Andy might become a recurring character, I'm not sure. I think it'd be nice having her shop grow over time thanks to Stevonnie, though.**

 **(Yes, I copped out with Lars coming into the shop, shut up.)**

 **After that I needed a way to have them unfuse without being nude (as hilarious as that might've been), so I figured gem powers and unfusion would mix and make new outfits! Then I needed to design those too. And since I just wanted to move on at that point, I wrapped it up quickly and hopefully not too unsatisfyingly.**

 **Again, this chapter really felt different to write than usual. I just hope it's a nice read.**

 **Next time: *checks* Ooh, Serious Steven. I have a plan for this one. I mean, I have a plan for every chapter for a while, but this one's definitely one of the more fun ones.**


End file.
